344 THE GARDENER. [Aug. 



with a better organisation, the operations of the Society might be ex. 

 tended over a much wider range. The principle on which the Insti- 

 tution was organised was stated to be one partly of charity and partly 

 of insurance. With great tact the noble chairman defended the ride 

 that preference should be given, in distributing pensions, to those who 

 had during fifteen years contributed to the funds of the Institution. 

 This he justified on the ground that, in point of fact, those whom they 

 were assisting were merely receiving back that which they had sub- 

 scribed in the days of their prosperity. The eloquent and earnest 

 appeal made by the noble lord resulted in a subscription -list larger 

 than had ever before been realised on a like occasion. As usual, the 

 room was handsomely decorated with plants and flowers kindly fur- 

 nished by the leading nurserymen, and handsome contributions of fruit 

 were sent towards the dessert. 



THE THEORY OP THE LEAF. 



All plants are produced from seeds or buds — the one free, the other 

 attached ; the one spreading the plant geographically, the other in- 

 creasing its individual size. Carefully examined, the seed, or starting- 

 point in the life of a plant, is composed of a leaf rolled tight, and 

 altered in tissue and contents so as to suit its new requirements. Look 

 at the germination of a Bean : the two leaves of which it is composed 

 appear in the fleshy lobes or cotyledons which first rise above the 

 ground, and afford nourishment to the embryo. The bud, which is 

 physiologically co-ordinate with the seed, is found to consist of leaves 

 folded in a peculiar manner, and covered with tough leathery scales to 

 protect them from the winter's cold ; and in spring it evolves the stem, 

 leaves, and fruit. By some the stem is regarded as an essentially 

 distinct and typical part, but the study of plants in which it de- 

 parts from the normal form will clearly indicate its foliaceous origin. 

 The leaf is here made to assume a columnar shape, strengthened at 

 the joints and nodes for the support of the superstructure, and 

 elevated above the ground in order to expose all the organs which 

 it bears to the quickening influence of sun and air. In plants 

 which are destitute of ordinary leaves, or which shed them at an 

 early period, and remain ever after naked, the stems serve all the 

 purposes of leaves. In the Cactus tribe, the whole plant consists 

 of pointed leaves, and in the common Butcher's Broom of our own 

 country, the stem becomes foliaceous — that is, flattened and leaf-like. 

 Stems produce buds and flowers, so do leaves — as, for instance, those 



